If you thought all social networking activity took place on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+, think again. There is a preponderance of niche social networks that appeal to nearly every interest and taste.
Niche networks run the gamut from celebrity fan sites to industry-specific business networks to philanthropic groups, and there’s good rationale for their existence. Rather than connecting people with family and friends across their social graph, the nexus of these communities is shared interests and passions, or their “interest graph.”
Far from being a marketer’s worst nightmare, smaller, more focused networks are becoming places where people actually listen.
The option to share Instagram photos on Facebook and Twitter is both a blessing and a curse. When I want to share a photo that’s particularly special with my Facebook friends who aren’t on Instagram (i.e., my grandma), I can do so. When I want to share a photo that’s particularly witty on Twitter, I can do so. But when I see the same linked photos on Facebook and Twitter, and then again on Instagram, it drives me nuts. Especially if said photos are of my friend’s cat… and I like cats. In short: cross-platform integration has gone overboard and it’s led social giants to become one massive lump of blah.
